Roma at Work

 I love baskets. So I my ears really perked up when our friend Zoltan told me about this Roma basket-maker in Romania. The man is a Christian. During the growing season he, like many other Roma, does  agricultural work. Some people go to Germany to pick soft fruits (strawberries, raspberries, etc.). Others go to Spain to pick garlic, among other things. 

I do not know what this man does then. But during the other months, he makes baskets. One of Zoltan's Roma friends helps sell the baskets. Zoltan had bought a big, sturdy one for harvesting grapes.

In America, baskets for such farm work were often made from split hardwood like white oak. Here in Europe, the weaving material of choice is more likely to be willow. Polled willows were grown specifically for this sort of purpose. These trees, often ancient, are still seen along fence rows today. 

Keith and I will be at the same Roma Networks Meeting as Zoltan in April. Perhaps Zoltan can buy and bring one of these baskets for me. Which would you choose:  an oval one with a handle or a big one for yardwork? 

Whatever you are doing, let your hearts be in your work, as a thing done for the Lord and not for men. Colossians 3:23, Weymouth New Testament